Finishing the semester strong by preparing for finals

With finals around the corner, students are starting to buckle down and prepare for the stress that comes along with finals week.

Jared Moser, a senior studying health science, said students often have high stress levels around finals season.

“It’s important to keep calm and study on,” according to an article titled, “25 Crucial Study Tips for Finals Week” on the College USA TODAY website.

Shanda Tew, a senior studying ecology, range, wildlife and fisheries, said the purpose of finals is to make sure students learned something over the course of the semester.

“It’s a cumulative thing,” Tew said. “You have to be preparing the whole semester and paying attention.”

Stephanie Nilsson, a sophomore studying history education, said preparing for finals takes time and dedication.

Nilsson said there is a lot of stressful crying involved. She said it is inevitable to procrastinate and think one can do just as well as if he or she studied earlier but that is never the case.

Tew said studying varies for the student and his or her classes.

“Try something new if your current techniques are not producing results,” according USA Today.

To produce positive results from studying, students are recommended to space out study sessions, entwine subjects and test themselves, according to an article titled, “Study Smart,” on the American Psychological Association website.

Nilsson said no matter what study method she is using, she always focuses on coveringthe main ideas of the material.

“I like flash cards — the study and test method,” Nilsson said. “It helps me out a lot. If you don’t know what’s on the back, then you don’t know the materialon the front.”

Tew said she likes to review previous class material.

“If old tests are available, I go over the old tests,” Tew said. “I go over my notes from the whole semester.”